Lola Eniola-Adefeso

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lola Eniola-Adefeso
Lola Eniola-Adefeso in Findings Magazine 01.png
Eniola-Adefeso in NIGMS Findings Magazine, 2009
Born
Maryland, USA
Alma materUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore County
University of Pennsylvania
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Michigan
Baylor College of Medicine
Websitehttps://che.engin.umich.edu/people/lola-eniola-adefeso/

Omolola (Lola) Eniola-Adefeso is a Nigerian-American[1] Chemical Engineer and the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Macromolecular Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan. Eniola-Adefeso is also a co-founder and chief scientific officer of Asalyxa Bio.[2] Her research looks to design biocompatible functional particles for targeted drug delivery.

Education[]

Eniola-Adefeso moved to Maryland from Nigeria at the age of 15.[1] She was going to attend medical school but became interested in chemical engineering.[3] Eniola-Adefeso studied Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at University of Maryland, Baltimore County, graduating in 1999.[4] She moved to University of Pennsylvania for her postgraduate studies, graduating in 2004.[4][5]

Research[]

Eniola-Adefeso in NIGMS Findings Magazine, 2009.

After completing her graduate studies, Eniola-Adefeso worked in the Baylor College of Medicine as a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow.[6][7] Eniola-Adefeso joined University of Michigan in 2006.[8] In 2013 she was named a Miller Faculty Scholar at the University of Michigan and now also serves as the Vice Chair for Graduate Education.[9][10][11][12] She is interested in the interactions between blood leukocytes and endothelial cells in vessel lumen lining, and how they change during inflammation response.[7][13] After losing her father to heart disease, Eniola-Adefeso began to research new treatments for it.[14][15]

Her research group works on:[4]

  • Understanding cell adhesion and migration
  • Designing polymer-based cells that can be used for targeted drug delivery
  • Designing smart biomaterials for drug delivery and understanding the response of the body[16]


Eniola-Adefeso always aims to leverage fundamental science discovery in her lab towards clinical applications. In this vein, she demonstrated in a Science Advances publication from 2020 that human neutrophils’ prefer to phagocytose (i.e., eat) rod-shaped particles, which is counter to the widely accepted notion in the literature – primarily based on work with mouse blood and cell lines – that blood phagocytes do not effectively eat rods. This revelation offers a novel approach to the specific targeting of neutrophils in disease.

Her critical discovery, coupled with the use of an innovative polymer, has led to the recent formation of a startup company, Asalyxa Bio, where Eniola-Adefeso holds the Chief Scientific Officer position. Since incorporation in July, she led the company to raise funds towards a first-in-human clinical trial toward developing this technology to treat Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Work[]

Eniola-Adefeso is a champion for women and underrepresented minority students within University of Michigan.[17] She has established a mentoring scheme and served as graduate chair, recruiting the most diverse cohort of students in the department's history.[18][17] She encouraged undergraduate students to develop experiments for K-12 teachers to use in their classrooms.[17] Eniola-Adefeso has been involved in the College of Engineering NextProf program, which brings women and minority students to campus to experience academic life.[17] In 2021, Eniola-Adefeso and BME colleagues from many US institutions called out racial funding disparity by the National Institutes of Health garnering support for these larger institutional DEI changes from both academic and non-academic communities.[19]

Honors and fellowships[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Highways to Healing - Omolola Eniola-Adefeso '99, ChemEng". 2 September 2011.
  2. ^ "Biotech | Orange Grove Bio Team". Asalyxa. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  3. ^ a b "Meyerhoff Scholar – News and Stories for UMBC Alumni". umbcalumni.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  4. ^ a b c "Lola Eniola-Adefeso – Chemical Engineering". che.engin.umich.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  5. ^ "CBE - Lola Eniola-Adefeso, ChE PhD'04 Elected to the College of Fellows at AIMBE". www.cbe.seas.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  6. ^ "Diversity Program Alumni Updates: Omolola Eniola-Adefeso, Ph.D. - National Institute of General Medical Sciences". www.nigms.nih.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  7. ^ a b "Omolola Eniola-Adefeso, PhD". Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  8. ^ a b "Eniola Adefeso receives University honor and promotion to professor | Michigan Engineering". Michigan Engineering. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  9. ^ "Lola Eniola-Adefeso – Chemical Engineering". che.engin.umich.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  10. ^ a b "Lola Eniola-Adefeso elected fellow of AIMBE | Michigan Engineering". Michigan Engineering. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  11. ^ "Alumni Promotions and Awards" (PDF). University of Penn. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  12. ^ "Lola Eniola-Adefeso promoted to associate professor | Michigan Engineering". Michigan Engineering. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  13. ^ "UMBC Meyerhoff Scholars Program". www.umbc.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  14. ^ NIGMS (2010-09-10), NIGMS Grantee Dr. Lola Eniola-Adefeso on Developing New Heart Disease Drugs, retrieved 2018-05-09
  15. ^ "Special Delivery - September 2009 - Findings - Science Publication - National Institute of General Medical Sciences". publications.nigms.nih.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  16. ^ AIChE ChEnected (2018-03-18), Chemical Engineer Lola Eniola Adefeso on Smart Materials and Drug Delivery, retrieved 2018-05-09
  17. ^ a b c d e "Eniola-Adefeso wins College of Engineering award | Michigan Engineering". Michigan Engineering. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  18. ^ "Mentoring Moment with Dr. Lola Eniola-Adefeso (UMBC Alum)". myUMBC. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  19. ^ Stevens, Kelly R.; Masters, Kristyn S.; Imoukhuede, P.I.; Haynes, Karmella A.; Setton, Lori A.; Cosgriff-Hernandez, Elizabeth; Lediju Bell, Muyinatu A.; Rangamani, Padmini; Sakiyama-Elbert, Shelly E.; Finley, Stacey D.; Willits, Rebecca K.; Koppes, Abigail N.; Chesler, Naomi C.; Christman, Karen L.; Allen, Josephine B.; Wong, Joyce Y.; El-Samad, Hana; Desai, Tejal A.; Eniola-Adefeso, Omolola (2021-02-04). "Fund Black scientists". Cell. 184 (3): 561–565. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.01.011. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 33503447.
  20. ^ "Eniola-Adefeso Lab".
  21. ^ "Office of the Provost | Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award". www.provost.umich.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  22. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#1054352 - CAREER: Defining the interplay between hemodynamics and shape/size in particle localization to the vascular wall - an integrated in vitro and in vivo study". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  23. ^ "Lola Eniola-Adefeso". www.aiche.org. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
  24. ^ a b c "Eniola Research Group - Cell Adhesion & Drug Delivery". cheresearch.engin.umich.edu. Retrieved 2018-05-09.
Retrieved from ""